Abstract
Owing to the increasing environmental pollution and disturbances, afforestation of our cities has become an outlined objective by today. So as to elaborate liveable environments, the most important mission of breeders, gardeners and landscape architectures is to find such plant species and cultivars, which can tolerate urban conditions. Earlier, certain tree species later special cultivars of them were found to tolerate these environments, yet nowadays no such species or cultivars can be found that fulfil all requirements of urban afforestation. In this study, we examine the possibility of the application of artificial mycorrhizae with such purposes with a presumably appropriate species, Acer buergerianum (trident maple). Although Acer species are planted in parks rather than into tree lines, Acer buergerianum is one of the most popular trees in alleys of Eastern Asian cities. It is also included in the Urban Green Project 2021, while in Hungary it is only found as a solitaire species, mainly in botanical gardens. Owing to its good tolerance and high decorative value, it may play a potential role in future Hungarian urban afforestation. In our study, the effect of mycorrhizal products available in Hungary and different inoculation methods were tested on 120 trident maple specimens. Level of mycorrhization and phenological features indicating the growth intensity (thickness and height of the new shoots) were evaluated during the vegetative period.
Highlights
The genus Acer belongs to the Sapindaceae family
Though in the first times some maple species were applied in alleys, and later their special cultivars of somewhat higher pollution tolerance survived in these areas, nowadays, with the increasing pollution burden of the cities, no native Acer species or cultivars serve entirely all the requirements
Arbuscles and vesicles were detected in the roots of trident maple, but the degree of colonisation was different at the different treatments
Summary
The genus Acer belongs to the Sapindaceae family. The majority of the 111 maple species live in the northern temperate climatic zone. The European afforestation of urban areas begun in the 18th century with planting trees in urban outskirts. This had an important aim of providing recreation areas for the citizens in the close vicinity of the cities [6, 7]. Some interesting and useful cultivars were bred at this period, such as ‘Columnare’, ‘Deborah’, ‘Globosum’, ‘Olmsted’, ‘Summershade’ of Acer platanoides or ‘Negenia’, ‘Rotterdam’ of Acer pseudoplatanus These cultivars are considerably less sensitive to air and soil pollution characteristic of urban sites. Though in the first times some maple species were applied in alleys, and later their special cultivars of somewhat higher pollution tolerance survived in these areas, nowadays, with the increasing pollution burden of the cities, no native Acer species or cultivars serve entirely all the requirements
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